Gov. Bobby Jindal says his commitment to Louisiana is strong

Deflecting criticism of his out-of-state travels, Gov. Bobby Jindal said Wednesday that a review of his schedule will show that he has been in Louisiana "90 percent of the time" during his first three years in office, including regular visits to every parish in the state.

View full sizeTed Jackson, The Times-PicayuneGov. Bobby Jindal talks to representatives of The Times-Picayune in the executive offices on Wednesday.

He also reiterated that he has no plans to seek another office but is focused on running for re-election in the fall for a four-year term that he expects to complete.

"I have the job I want," Jindal said during a meeting at The Times-Picayune. "I lost the first time I tried to get it. People suggested I should run for the Senate. ... I don't want to be a senator. I want to be governor."

"Yes," he said flatly when asked whether he is prepared to serve a full second term. "You won't see me in Iowa," the site of the first presidential caucuses. "Look, if the people of Louisiana do me the honor of re-electing me, I'll be here. My plan is to serve out eight years and then I've got to get a job in the private sector to pay my bills.

"This (possible second term) may be my last job in politics," said Jindal, who lost his first race for governor to Kathleen Blanco in 2003, served three years in Congress, and then returned to win election in 2007.

Jindal said his goal as governor has been to improve educational and economic opportunities in Louisiana so that the state's young people are not moving out and that families and business are looking to move back.

He cited his administration's push for new ethics laws to clean up the state's reputation, changes in business taxes to attract more economic development, revamped workforce training, improvements to K-12 education and investments in infrastructure as accomplishments for reaching those goals.

He rattled off an array of national rankings he said shows that Louisiana has weathered the current recession better than many other states and noted his administration's efforts for retaining and attracting new businesses that have produced jobs, including the $3.4 billion Nucor iron plant planned for construction in St. James Parish, brokering a deal for Foster Farms to take over a poultry processing plant in northern Louisiana and landing various projects elsewhere in the state.

The governor expressed confidence that many more jobs will be created in the New Orleans area through the Federal City complex on the West Bank and attracting new high-tech businesses to the Michoud facility in eastern New Orleans. He said he is "cautiously optimistic" about finding a tenant or tenants to use the Avondale Shipyard once Northrop Grumman shuts down operations there.

"Gov. Bobby Jindal is spending more time in your state than the one he was elected to represent," J Hudson wrote in his letter to The Keene Sentinel. "I read almost daily about his trips to other states, which makes me believe that he is more interested in running for president than running the state of Louisiana."

Jindal said he is aware of the criticism, but noted that it was most intense "in a compressed period of time" when he was on the road leading up to the November elections.

Jindal said the support he showed for winning Republicans in other states could eventually pay off for the state as those officials are willing to make common cause with Louisiana on various issues.

"I went and supported (candidates) who share some of the same views I do," he said. "I think that is good for the state and good for the country."

He also noted that while those trips have garnered attention he has been making frequent, but less high-profile, visits to every parish in the state for town halls and meetings with constituents.

"I have been to every parish more than any other governor in recent history," he said. "Go up to Farmerville (in northern Louisiana), go to Jena (in central Louisiana) and ask the people there. Some say they have not seen a governor (in their communities) since Earl Long, maybe Edwin (Edwards)."

"Gov. Mike Foster said they criticized him for not traveling enough and that they are criticizing me for traveling too much, Jindal said. "You are going to be criticized for something. It comes with the job."